Downey And Healey Close Out Careers At ETSU Wednesday
11/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate will end its season just like it began, on the road when it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on East Tennessee State Wednesday night at 7:00. The match will not only be the end of the season, but also the careers of seniors Katie Downey and Megan Healey.
Upstate began the season with a win over Southeast Missouri State in Bradley's tournament. The Spartans had to play the majority of its schedule away from Spartanburg and had just seven "home" matches, playing its home contests at Wofford, Converse and Oakbrook School due to the renovations to the Hodge Center.
Although a difficult season, the Spartans have seen some positive signs for the future. First, the 10 wins are the second-most for the program since moving to Division I in 2007. Second, freshman Cori Harris has emerged as a go-to player, while a short-handed team has made it through the season often playing just eight players in a match.
Upstate enters Wednesday's match with a 10-17 overall record and looks to end its two-match losing streak. The Spartans have won three of its last six matches. ETSU enters the match with a 23-8 overall record and is battling for seeding in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament. ETSU leads the all-time series, 7-3.
Downey, Healey Close Out Careers Wednesday Night
For seniors Katie Downey and Megan Healey, not only is the season coming to a close, but so are their collegiate careers. Both have left their mark on the program and will play their final match in an Upstate uniform Wednesday night at ETSU.
Downey will finish her career as the program's all-time leader in assisted blocks. She currently has 264 in her career. She also stands seventh all-time with 346 total blocks and 10th in both points (1,216) and total attacks (2,299).
Healey will finish her career no lower than third on Upstate's all-time digs list. She currently has 1,491 digs. She also ranks in the top 10 with 1,609 serves (3rd), 3.41 digs per set (7th), 141 aces (8th) and 437 sets played (9th). She is also the program's Division I leader in several statistical categories.
Harris-Devine: A Fresh Matchup
Arguably the two top freshman attacking players in the A-Sun this season, Upstate's Cori Harris and ETSU's Megan Devine will matchup Wednesday night in Johnson City, Tenn. Harris is the only freshman in the league to rank in the top 10 in kills, aces and points. She tops the Spartans with 290 kills and 34 aces, while tallying 271 digs and 36 total blocks. Devine leads ETSU with 312 kills, while tallying 22 aces, 270 digs and 51 total blocks.
Spartans Looking For Breakthrough
Although Upstate owns a 1-8 record in the A-Sun, the Spartans have played much better than the record would indicate. Take last week for instance. The Spartans traveled to Mercer and Kennesaw State, two teams in the upper-half of the league standings with KSU holding down the No. 2 spot. Upstate took a set off of each school. At Mercer, just five points separated Upstate from winning the match, losing the third and fourth sets by a combined five points. At Kennesaw State, Upstate won the first set and nearly pulled off the win in the second. The Spartans fell to the Owls by a combined seven points in the second and fourth sets to lose the match.
Upstate has lost six A-Sun matches by 3-1 scores. In three of those matches, the Spartans have scored at least 20 points in two of the sets they lost in each match, proving the team is on the brink of success not indicated by the league record.
Healey Third All-Time In Digs
Senior libero Megan Healey has been a strong defensive player since stepping onto the court at Upstate. She has now moved into sole possession of third place on Upstate's all-time digs list. She currently owns 1,491 digs in her four years. She trails Kristin Korte (1,688) and Mandy Rupert (1,520) on the all-time list at Upstate.
Spartans Own The MEAC
With Upstate's 3-0 win at North Carolina A&T (Oct. 27) and the 3-1 win against Bethune-Cookman (Oct. 30), the Spartans improved to a perfect 5-0 this season against schools from the MEAC. The Spartans claimed sweeps of Norfolk State (Sept. 10), Savannah State (Oct. 14), North Carolina Central (Oct. 20), A&T before its 3-1 win over BCU.
Sanders Moving Up Assists List
Though just a sophomore, Emily Sanders has already moved past Upstate head coach Jennifer Calloway and into eighth on Upstate's all-time assists list with 1,573. Her 7.45 assists per set average ranks fifth all-time at Upstate.
Thomas Closing Out The Season With Big Numbers
Junior middle blocker Morgan Thomas has come on as the season has come to a close. A solid player throughout the year, she has asserted herself into the offensive and defensive schemes as of late. She has reached double figures in kills in seven of the last 10 matches, including three-straight with 10 kills each against Bethune-Cookman and Mercer and 14 against Kennesaw State. She has also tallied 20 total blocks in the last seven matches.
Sanders' Career Night At Mercer
Emily Sanders turned in quite a performance at Mercer on Friday night. She tallied 44 assists on the evening and came up with a career-high 25 digs for her 17th double-double of the season.
ETSU Notes
A week ago, ETSU was tied for second place in the A-Sun after securing one of six spots in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament. After back-to-back losses to Kennesaw State and Mercer, the Buccaneers stand fourth in the A-Sun with a 6-3 record and are battling for seeding with Belmont, Mecer, Jacksonville and Campbell. If the season ended today, the Bucs would be the No. 5 seed in the tournament.
ETSU enters Wednesday night's match with a 23-8 overall record and a 6-3 mark in the A-Sun. The Bucs rank in the top five in the A-Sun in six statistical categories. They are one of the top defensive clubs in the league, topping all conference schools with 296 blocks on the year.
ETSU hits at a .188 clip (5th) and limits opponents to a .143 hitting percentage (2nd). They rank third in the conference with 12.6 kills per set, fourth with 11.6 assists per frame, fourth with 1.5 aces per set and ninth with 13.9 digs per game.
Freshman outside hitter Megan Devine leads ETSU with 312 kills on the year, while six other Bucs have reached triple digits in kills this season. Whitney Cogburn is the quarterback of the team with 1,091 assists from her setter position. Stout on defense, the Bucs have two players who have more than 100 total blocks on the year. Alysa Long leads the way with 146 total blocks (117 BA, 29 BS) and Jamie Stancliff ranks second with 120 total blocks (108 BA, 12 BS).
Spotlight Player: Megan Devine
Freshman outside hitter Megan Devine has developed into a go-to player for ETSU this season. She tops the club with 312 kills. She ranks second with 270 digs and has also recorded 22 aces and 51 total blocks.
